You and Dick were close friends back when Bruce first enrolled him into high school, and you were one of the first people he trusted with his secret identity. When he went off to form the Titans, he lost contact with you for a while, only to find out you’ve moved to Blüdhaven! And he was there too!

So he made a big Nightwing gesture about reuniting with you, and you two picked up right where you’d left off. The only difference now was that... you were so much prettier. He had decided he was going to ask you out, because, well… why not, right?

So he invites you on to the roof of your own apartment complex to show you the little picnic he’d set up under the stars. It was really cheesy, sure, but it was of how he felt. He was still in his Nightwing costume due to just getting off the patrol. But he couldn’t even get a moment in with you, because with Blüdhaven being Blüdhaven, there were some stray gunshots that were loud enough to startle you, and send you tripping over the edge of the building.

Dick felt his heart drop so fast. Without a second thought he dove off the side of the building in pursuit, his arms outstretched in front of him. It’s almost like time slows down for a moment, because when he looks at you, he is violently reminded about how he lost people in a similar way.

His own parents. At that point in life, Dick had never felt so helpless. It was the turning point to everything else, but it still haunted him.

This would not be like that.

With one hand going for his belt to grab his grapnel gun, he aims at you and fires so the rope will curl around your ankle and he can pull you back with a newfound sense of urgency. Once he has you in his arm, he turns, aims up, and shoots the gun at the nearest fire escape stairwell. The rope curls around the railway, and the both of you are left suspended midair. One arm is holding you to his chest, the other grips on to the end of the grapnel.

“I’ve got you,” he breathes, looking down at you concernedly. “Are you okay?”